Determination and correlation of turbidity and dissolved oxygen contents in aquaculture ponds in Naic, Cavite - Padilla, Ryan Christian S.; Pili, Joseph Manuel D.; Raymundo, Vernadette Liz P. (Manila: PLM, 2025)
ABSTRACT: Monitoring dissolved oxygen and turbidity-alongside other parameters of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) such as suspended solids, pH, ammonia, nitrate/nitrite, phosphate, total hardness, salinity, carbon dioxide, and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)-is essential for maintaining optimal water quality in aquaculture ponds. This study aimed to assess the correlation between dissolved oxygen and turbidity in three selected ponds in Naic, Cavite. Dissolved oxygen was measured using the Winkler method and Hanna HI98193 portable dissolved oxygen meter. Turbidity was analyzed using the Merck-SQ method at the Department of Science and Technology-Laguna. A paired sample t-test and percent differences compared the Winkler and DO meter readings, while Pearson correlation and linear regression analyzed the relationship between dissolved oxygen and turbidity. The t-values of the ponds were below the critical value (2.92), indicating no significant difference between the Winkler method and the DO meter. This was further supported by a low percent difference of below 5% for the dissolved oxygen readings between Winkler method and DO meter for the pond sampling sites. Turbidity levels varied among the ponds: Ronquillo Residences (9-20 NTU), Deloso Agri-Farm (37-40) NTU), and CVSU-Mabolo Annex (16-20 NTU). For Pearson correlation and linear regression, Ronquillo Residences showed a low negative correlation with low linearity, while Deloso Agri-Farm had a moderate negative correlation with low linearity. As such, this is caused by environmental and biological factors such as temperature, organic load, photosynthesis, or aeration patterns. In contrast, CVSU-Mabolo Annex exhibited a strong positive correlation with moderate linearity due to aeration, colder water, sediment resuspension, and human disturbance, which led to the increase on both variables unlike the other ponds. These findings confirm the comparability of the Winkler method and the DO meter.
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Keywords: academic writing